Argument may have preceded deadly Fort Hood attack

World Today

Military personnel wait for a news conference to begin at Fort Hood, Texas, on Wednesday, April 2, 2014. A gunman opened fire in an attack that left four people killed including the shooter, at the same post where more than a dozen people were killed in a 2009 mass shooting, law enforcement officials said. The gunman died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, officials said. At least 14 people were hurt in the shooting. (AP Photo/Austin American-Statesman, Deborah Cannon)

FORT HOOD, Texas — The soldier who killed three people at Fort Hood may have argued with another service member shortly before the attack at the Texas military base, and investigators believe his unstable mental health contributed to the rampage, authorities said Thursday.

The base’s senior officer, Lt. Gen. Mark Milley, said there is a “strong possibility” that Spc. Ivan Lopez had a “verbal altercation” with another soldier or soldiers immediately before Wednesday’s shooting, which unfolded on the same Army post that was the scene of an infamous 2009 mass shooting.

However, there’s no indication that he targeted specific soldiers, Milley said.

Lopez never saw combat during a deployment to Iraq and had shown no apparent risk of violence before the shooting, officials said.

The 34-year-old truck driver seemed to have a clean record that showed no ties to extremist groups. But the Army secretary promised that investigators would keep all avenues open in their inquiry of the soldier whose rampage ended only after he fired a final bullet into his own head.

More than a dozen people were slain at the same Texas military base in 2009. CCTV’s Jessica Stone reports.

Another Deadly Shooting At Fort Hood Army Base

A shooting incident was reported at the US army base in Fort Hood in the state of Texas.
Fort Hood was the scene of another gun rampage in 2009 that left 13 soldiers dead. CCTV's Jessica Stone reports with details on the rampage in Fort Hood Army Base.

U.S. President Barack Obama has vowed a complete investigation. In a hastily arranged statement while in Chicago, Obama reflected on the sacrifices Fort Hood troops have made, including enduring multiple tours to Iraq and Afghanistan.